There are numerous situations in which an interactive signing or dedication between the signor and at least one other person is desired. Individuals with a following come to mind, such as popular artists, media personalities, actors, or athletes. The members of the following or “fans” of such individuals often seek signing/dedication of one or more of articles such as books, a CDs, or a t-shirts, depending on the area of endeavour of the person having the fan base.
The case of an author who has achieved a degree of popularity is representative of the demand for signings and dedications, and the implications of this demand on the author, on his/her fans, and also on the related industries having an interest in the signing/dedications taking place.
Book tours have become standard fare in the publishing industry. These book tours often include special events such as university readings, literary festivals and in-store “meet the author” events. In each case, it is very common to incorporate a book signing that permits fans of the author and/or the book to have one or more copies signed by the author, or in many cases provided with a personal dedication.
One purpose of the book signing is building relations between the author and fans, in order to create a loyal base of readers, which in turn helps to promote sales. The book signing also plays a valuable role in attracting media attention, which also encourages sales.
The proliferation of large scale bookstores in urban centers has also created an increased demand for book signings.
The publishing industry has also become more “global” in the sense that an increasing number of authors have developed an international fan base, which has resulted in demand for book signings in disparate locations throughout the globe. One of the aspects of this global publishing industry is the simultaneous release of new publications in several countries, coupled often with international book tours.
The above has contributed overall to authors being asked (if not required under their publishing contracts) to participate in fairly long book tours involving multiple book signings and travel to often far flung parts of the Earth. The costs of these book tours can be very significant. It is important to understand that the associated costs involve not only the travel expenses of the author, but also the significant person hours required to organize the infinite details of a well run book tour.
From the perspective of the publisher, while the fans generally demand these book tours, given the margins in the book business it is often challenging to recover the associated cost, which further reduces the applicable profit margins. Or alternatively, these costs contribute to the increased cost of books, which further erodes readership.
From the perspective of the author, book tours often involve several months spent away from home with the author generally living from a suitcase. This time spent by authors on the road often distracts from the writing, which is a disadvantage to the publisher as well. Fans eager for the signature/dedication most often are required to converge on a relatively small number of book signing locations, often in larger bookstores in urban centres. This regularly results in line ups, which makes the event rather time consuming for the fans and also for the author. It is fairly common to give the author an allotted time for the book signing that is often insufficient given the number of fans. The result is that some fans are turned away without their copy of the book being signed and/or dedicated, which is disappointing for the fans and frustrating for the author. Or alternatively, the book signing becomes a bit of an assembly line with pressure being placed on the author by handlers to speed up their per fan interaction.
A little known aspect of the book signing process from the author's perspective is the requirement to make available relatively large numbers of copies of books signed by the author. The signature of these books often takes place at the site of the bookstore where the author is often put in a small room away from view for this purpose. This time consuming activity matched often with a less than desirable setting is often inconvenient.
The above example of book signing and their context is representative of media events involving signings in other situations such as media events in support of CD launches, concert tours, promotional events in support of television or radio shows, movie launches, film festivals and so on.
Video conferencing equipment is well known. There are a number of different technologies manufactured and distributed by various companies. One particular manufacturer of video conferencing equipment markets its equipment under the brand POLYCOM™. Also the proliferation of Voice Over IP (VoIP) is resulting in the deployment of a wide array of other video conferencing solutions over this communication protocol. This, in combination with the increased distribution of software with video conferencing capability, including for example WINDOWS™ which now includes video conferencing functionality, is compounding the availability of this technology, and the number of particular solutions available.
Plotting apparatuses are also well known. Plotting apparatuses are vector drawing devices that generally employ a pen device moveable by the plotting apparatus in X and Y axes, so as to reach any point on the surface of a target area that receives, for example, a piece of paper. The plotting apparatus also generally includes a mechanism for raising and lowering the pen device. Most plotting apparatuses were originally designed for generating engineering drawings. They generally break up elements to be plotted into a small series of line segments. Advances in raster printing technologies (e.g. bubble jets, lasers, etc.) have made pen plotting apparatuses less widespread.
There is a need therefore for a system, computer program and method that addresses the aforesaid disadvantages. In particular, there is a need for a system, computer program and method that enables individuals having a fan base to participate in signings/dedications on a remote basis. More particularly, there is need for a specialized tool for authors to participate in in-store book signing on a remote basis. Preferably, the system, computer program and method satisfies the demands of the fans as much as possible, while resulting in significant savings of time (publisher, author, and bookstore) and money (publisher, bookstore, sometimes author). There is also a need for a system, computer program and method that is operable to permit signings/dedications at a relatively low cost at multiple locations.
In addition, there is a need for an improved plotting technology for use in connection with the system and method of the present invention. Prior art plotting technology has a number of disadvantages. First, the operation of such devices is relatively slow, and therefore the time required to trace a human signature or dedication is relatively long, which results for example in relatively long wait times at book signing events. Second, the quality of reproduction of signature or dedication prepared by operation of the prior art plotting apparati is not optimal. In particular, prior art plotting apparati generally cannot mimic the variations in pen pressure typical of a human signature, which results in visual variances between the signature traced by the prior art plotting apparati and the original signature or dedication. Third, in many cases signatures/dedications traced by prior art plotting apparati have a slightly mechanical quality that needs improvement. Fourth, each signature especially is unique and therefore it is desirable to define an optimal tracing path and associated attributes for achieving a balance between speed and quality of reproduction. This optimal tracing path and associated attributes are preferably defined for each signature/dedication, as they will vary depending on the characteristics of the particular signature/dedication. Prior art plotting apparati are not operable to define such an optimal tracing path. Fifth, prior art plotting apparati do not work very well on non-flat surfaces, e.g. that of a book that is difficult to flatten completely and hold in place such as because of the book's spine.
There is a need therefore for an improved plotting apparatus for use in signing personalized dedications. There is a further need for a plotting apparatus that is operable to achieve a balance of speed and quality of reproduction. There is a further need for a plotting apparatus that is operable to trace a signature on non-flat surfaces.